Shipwreck in the Harbour - Workshop of Claude Joseph Vernet (1714 -1789)

"Shipwreck in the Harbour"
Claude Joseph Vernet (Avignon 1714 - Paris 1789)

Oil painting on canvas
Period: IInd half of the 18th century
Superb Louis XV gilt frame
Canvas 93 x 67 frame 114 x 87
Excellent condition

The splendid painting, of great charm and spectacular effect, depicts a lively shipwreck scene illuminated by a glimpse of blue sky between the dark clouds during the storm.
The work, of remarkable beauty, is set in a Mediterranean port and highlights all the pictorial, chromatic and descriptive characteristics of the seascapes of the great French Master Claude Joseph Vernet, in one of his most representative compositions, namely a shipwreck scene .
His famous marine representations with the extraordinary and inimitable atmospheric conditions always hovering between dark and light, between calm and storm, express mixed feelings, made even more intense by a palette of vibrant colors.
The canvas is generously sized and allows the Author to grasp a sequence of sketches where the castaways are desperately rushing to help the men still at sea or lying unconscious on the coast. A sailing ship has crashed on the rocks of the cliff, a lifeboat full of shipwrecked people tries to reach the shore where a large group of survivors cries desperately in an attempt to help the unfortunates. Against the light, the dark bulk of a lantern stands out and in the distance you can see the shape of a sailing ship at the mercy of events. The extraordinary chiaroscuro effect of this magnificent composition is highlighted by the violent contrasts between the dark areas and the dazzling light of the glimpse of blue sky and is a peculiar element of Vernet's artistic repertoire.
The work is in excellent condition complete with its splendid, finely carved and gilded Louis XV frame.
The pictorial quality of the painting is decidedly of a high level and approaches, also in consideration of the dimensions, the most beautiful production of his workshop.